Mobile terminals are widely used for voice, data and/or multimedia communications. As used herein, mobile terminals may include conventional cell phones, Personal Communications Systems (PCS)/smart phones that may include data processing, voice, video, text message, e-mail and/or Web access capabilities, Personal Digital Assistants (PDA) with wireless communications capabilities, wireless pagers, Blackberry wireless handheld e-mail devices, and/or laptop computers and/or other devices that may include a radiotelephone transceiver.
Mobile terminals may operate to provide communication services related to voice telecommunications in addition to other services, such as internet access, email, messaging and the like. Such services are often provided by a telecommunications service provider on a usage-based pricing plan. For example, airtime charges, long distance charges, differential charges for particular services, differential charges for access to a network remote from the home provider (roaming), and the like may be associated with usage of a mobile terminal. Accordingly, undesirable costs can be incurred from unauthorized usage of the mobile terminals, which are typically portable devices that may be readily lost or misplaced.
As such, it is known to provide a lockout feature on mobile terminals. Typically, the mobile terminal includes a menu option accessible to a user allowing the user to enter a security lockout code. After entry of the code and activation of the security feature, the security code has to be entered before a user is allowed access to the services offered by the mobile terminal. For example, an owner of a lost or misplaced mobile terminal may prevent individuals who may find the mobile terminal from making use of the services provided by the mobile terminal at the expense of the owner. In addition, a parent may prevent a child from incurring charges and/or deleting information from the mobile terminal by entering the lockout code. An exemplary lockout feature is described in United States Patent Application Publication No. 2004/0082322 to Tani.